Nice post. I liked this take away. "Users say things for a reason, but there may be more to it than face value."
Theres often more to what a human says than face value. The key is to always be asking questions, always ask why, multiple times. Ask questions until you feel like you're on the edge of pissing someone off.
Often, a good bit of time up front can get to a few outcomes which save you a massive headache.
1) You understand the feature so well, you're ready to go and know it will be used.
2) The REAL ask was something totally different, and now you know what you need to do (nor not in some cases, sometimes its training, using the product properly/as intended etc).
You're also going to be giving the requester the space to fully explain themselves, and sometimes they can talk themselves round as well. At the end of the day everyones a winner when we ask more questions and listen.
Theres often more to what a human says than face value. The key is to always be asking questions, always ask why, multiple times. Ask questions until you feel like you're on the edge of pissing someone off.
Often, a good bit of time up front can get to a few outcomes which save you a massive headache.
1) You understand the feature so well, you're ready to go and know it will be used. 2) The REAL ask was something totally different, and now you know what you need to do (nor not in some cases, sometimes its training, using the product properly/as intended etc).
You're also going to be giving the requester the space to fully explain themselves, and sometimes they can talk themselves round as well. At the end of the day everyones a winner when we ask more questions and listen.